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When calling Dell Support, you usually have to enter the "Express Service Code" of your system get a tech on the phone.

This is because the Service Tag (= serial number) is not exclusively made of digits, but the Express Service Code is (DTMF friendly).

I'm only storing the ST in my inventory, so is there a way to convert a Dell ST to an Express Service Code?

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  • Dell used to have a program called Dell Express Service Code Utility that would do this but sadly I'm unable to find it online anywhere.
    – joeqwerty
    Apr 17, 2014 at 16:06

2 Answers 2

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The Dell Service Tag is just a base 36 number (10 digits + 26 letters). If you convert it to a base 10 number, you get the Express Service Code.

To do so, from a python console you can just type (credits to MikeyB): 

int("SRVCTAG",36)

Also, here is a simple PHP web page for doing so.

<?php
echo '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>' . "\n";
?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
    <title>Conversion Service Tag => Express Service Code (Dell)</title>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
</head>
<body>

<h1>Conversion Service Tag => Express Service Code (Dell)</h1>

<p>
<form action="" method="get">
Service Tag : <input type="text" name="st" value="<?php echo isset($_GET['st']) ? $_GET['st'] : ''; ?>" autofocus="autofocus" />
<input type="submit" value="Get Express SC" />
</form>
</p>

<?php
if( isset($_GET['st']) && ctype_alnum($_GET['st']) && strlen($_GET['st']) == 7 ) {
    $st = strtoupper($_GET['st']);
    $esc = base_convert($st, 36, 10); // convert from base 36 to base 10
    echo "<p>Express Service Code : $esc</p>";
}

?>

</body>
</html>

I am licensing this code under the GNU GPL licence version 2 or above, and the licence used on the stackexchange network, whichever you prefer.

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  • 5
    I'm not a lawyer, but by posting here you agreed to the terms of services (stackexchange.com/legal/terms-of-service) which states that your content is CC licensed. If you want it under the GPL you shouldn't post here.
    – faker
    Apr 17, 2014 at 16:16
  • 6
    Here's the python equivalent: str(int(service_tag,36))
    – MikeyB
    Apr 17, 2014 at 16:44
  • @faker Hence, this content is dual licenced de facto. It never was exclusive licencing, I clarified that in my answer. I notice however, that the stackexchange network barely respect other people copyrights, especially for posts copy-pasting non-free content.
    – Totor
    Apr 17, 2014 at 17:34
  • @Totor: If you notice copyright infringement then please flag it and explain it - the mods on SF take this seriously.
    – user9517
    Apr 18, 2014 at 7:47
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    You can also do the reverse and get the service tag from the express service code by swapping the 10 and the 36 in the PHP code.
    – sa289
    Dec 2, 2014 at 18:58
2

There is a number of sites that would do this... Google is your answer, but here is a few direct from Dell site themselves..

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/express_service_code?DoNotRedirect=y

http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/Expressservice

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  • Thanks I didn't know those. It makes you dependant of a webservice you don't master though. This can be a problem if you're in a situation where you must contact the support because you don't have Internet access anymore.
    – Totor
    Apr 17, 2014 at 17:25

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